Sacred Music – St. Joseph's on Capitol Hill

Please contact Maria Balducci, Director of Music & Organist, if you are interested in becoming involved with the St. Joseph’s music program. (music@st-josephs.org)

“Indeed, through this form [sacred music], prayer is expressed in a more attractive way, the mystery of the Liturgy, with its hierarchical and community nature, is more openly shown, the unity of hearts is more profoundly achieved by the union of voices, minds are more easily raised to heavenly things by the beauty of the sacred rites, and the whole celebration more clearly prefigures that heavenly Liturgy which is enacted in the holy city of Jerusalem.” (Musicam Sacram, 1967)

Concert Series: 2023-2024

Friday, September 29, 2023 at 6pm: Hillsdale College Chapel Choir. Under the direction of Dr. Timothy McDonnell, the Hillsdale College Chapel Choir visits from Michigan to offer a concert of sacred choral works.
Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 7pm: Requiem Mass by Claudio Casciolini. The St. Joseph’s Choir offers the sung requiem Mass of Italian Renaissance composer Casciolini, in memorium of the parishioners, family members, and friends of St. Joseph’s who died in the past year.
Sunday, December 17, 2023 at 4pm: Traditional Lessons & Carols. Join us on Gaudete Sunday for readings and music to reflect on the Advent and Christmas seasons.
Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 4pm: Marian Concert. The second annual concert offered by the St. Joseph’s Choir, with motets and hymns in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mother.

The St. Joseph’s Choir

The St. Joseph’s Choir sings for the Sunday 10:30am Masses. Rehearsals are Thursdays from 7:30pm-9pm. The music encompasses the entirety of the Church’s rich history of sacred music, from centuries-old a cappella Gregorian chant to Renaissance polyphony to new works by living composers. We are also hoping to add a monthly women’s and/or men’s schola for the Sunday 8:30am Masses. Consider joining if you have a background in music or singing, and are looking to find a wonderful, faithful community within the parish. (Contact: Maria Balducci, Director of Music: music@st-josephs.org)

The SJCA: St. Joseph’s Chorus Angelorum (Children’s Choir)

In the fall of 2022, St. Joseph’s added a children’s choir to our sacred music program. The Chorus Angelorum- choir of angels- has a two-fold mission: first, to teach the children proper singing technique, chants, hymns, motets, and the Mass ordinary and propers; second, to be exposed to Gregorian chant notation and Latin pronunciation and translation. The Chorus Angelorum is a part of Pueri Cantores, the international student choral organization of the Catholic Church, and participate in their annual regional festival Mass that gathers hundreds of local young Catholic singers. Rehearsals are every other Thursday from 6:30pm-7:30pm. (Contact: Maria Balducci, Director of Music: music@st-josephs.org)

St. Joseph’s Chorus Angelorum at the at Pueri Cantores 2023 Mid-Atlantic Youth Choral Festival at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, March 4^th.

The St. Joseph’s Pipe Organ

Hook & Hastings (Opus 1487, 1891)

**Nave, Gallery, and Pipe Facade:** Photograph by Len Levasseur. Taken November 2010.

FALL 2023 UPDATE

St. Joseph’s is pleased to announce that the David E. Wallace & Co. LLC Pipe Organ Builders has been selected to restore our treasured Hook & Hastings opus 1487 (1891) pipe organ! Wallace & Co is based in Maine, and specializes in restoring and building quality tracker action pipe organs. Wallace & Co has recently restored several Hook organs from the 1880’s and 1890’s. In addition to a full restoration, the hand-pumping mechanism will be restored/recreated and a new 16’ Trombone in the style of Hook & Hastings will be added to the Pedal division. The dismantling of the organ is slated to begin in June 2024, and the work will take approximately 12-13 months.

The pipe organ at St. Joseph’s is a treasured piece of its history. The 3-manual, 29 rank tracker action organ was built by Hook and Hastings in 1891, during the construction of the present church. It is the oldest unaltered tracker action organ in Washington, D.C.

Specifications (Manuals, 58 notes; Pedal, 27 notes; 1, 577 pipes)

GREAT
16 Open Diapason
8 Open Diapason
8 Doppel Flute
4 Octave
3 Twelfth
2 Fifteeth
1 1/3 Mixture III (174 pipes)
8 Trumpet

SWELL (enclosed)
16 Bourdon Bass
16 Bourdon Treble
8 Open Diapason
8 Stopped Diapason
8 Viola
4 Flauto Traverso
4 Violino
1 1/3 Dolce Cornet III (174 pipes)
8 Oboe & Bassoon
Tremelo

CHOIR (unenclosed)
8 Geigen Principal
8 Melodia
8 Dulciana
4 Flute d’Amour
2 Piccolo
8 Clarinet

PEDAL
16 Open Diapason
16 Bourdon
8 Violincello

About the Musicians

Maria Balducci, Director of Music & Organist, began at St. Joseph’s in the fall of 2020, after 11 years in the same position at Holy Redeemer Church in College Park, MD. Maria holds a Master of Music degree from Roosevelt University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She has served as keyboardist for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, accompanist for Chicago Opera Theater, and more recently, pianist with the Congressional Chorus and the National Children’s Chorus of DC. Her love of sacred music, organ, and choral music has led her to involvement in several organizations, most noticeably the American Federation Pueri Cantores, the student choral organization of the Catholic Church. She is also a member of CMAA, the Church Music Association of America.

Maria is originally from New Carrollton, MD, and attended St. Mary’s in Landover Hills and Georgetown Visitation. She currently lives in Alexandria, VA, with her husband, Michael Voigt, a firefighter for Fairfax County, and their four young boys.

Nancy House began singing with the Choir of St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill in November 1997. A graduate of the Catholic University of America with a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 1996 and a Master of Arts in English Literature in 2001, Nancy studied voice under Raymond “Mickey” McGuire and Maryann Sewell. She has sung with the Washington Chorus and the Choir of All Saints Church in Washington. Her solo work includes the works of Strauss, Dvorak, and Barber, as well as Irish folk music. Nancy lives in Washington with her husband Robert and their two children.

David Mecher has been singing at St. Joseph’s since March of 2017. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, he spent seven years in choral music split between the Elder High School and Miami University Men’s Glee Clubs, four years of a cappella with Soul2Soul A Cappella, and was a cantor at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Delhi Township. David works at EARTHDAY.ORG and lives on Capitol Hill, where he also spends his weekday evenings singing with the Capitol Hill Chorale.

Leanne Repko has been singing as a cantor at St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill since 2005. Originally from Hyde Park, NY, she graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and American Studies in 2002. Leanne moved to Washington, DC, where she completed her Master of Public Policy at George Washington University in 2006. She enjoys singing across Washington, DC with several groups. She has been a member of the Capitol Hill Chorale since 2006, where she’s the Alto Section Leader, and sings with all-female acapella group Vox Pulchra. Leanne joined the Capitol Hill Chorale’s choir tour of the Republic of Georgia in 2019, where they performed alongside the Georgian State Choir and with the Kutaisi Opera Choir. She also sang with the Liturgical Choir for Pope Francis for the Canonization Mass at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; performed the National Anthem at the Nationals Ball Park; and sang Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolftrap, among other local performances. She is a Healthcare Administrator with Inova Health System and enjoys traveling with friends and family.